The Ninja I Love
by indianslikecurry
Summary: A Naruhina Fanfic. Naruto comes back from his 3 year training with Jiraiya, everyone is eager to see him. As soon as he gets back, he gets ent out on a mission. Naruxhina NejixTen InoxShika SakuxSask
1. The Return Of Naruto

This Starts from when Naruto comes back from his 3 year training with Jiraiya.

Note: I do not own Naruto I only own this story and the characters unique to it. Although this story has a lot of couples in it, mostly it will be about NaruxHina Please R&R

** The Ninja I love**

**Prologue**

A perfectly normal day, unknowingly to the citizens to The Hidden Leaf Village, this day was the day that Naruto and Jiraiya were to return to Konoha. As the guards to the gate into the great village of Konoha carried out their usual duty, they noticed 2 figures in the horizon, walking towards the village. Upon closer inspection it turned out to be Naruto and One of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya, back from their training. "Quickly go inform the Hokage!" barked one of the guards.

**Chapter 1: The Return Of Naruto**

"Ahhh you've returned, the Loudmouth Ninja and the _Pervert_" Naruto noticed Oba-chan said the last word with a rather strong tone. He turned and saw that indeed Ero-Sennin was staring at Tsunade's exposed chest, drooling. This earned him a rather hard wake call from Naruto, in the form of a punch on the head. While the 2 adults got into a argument, Naruto took the liberty of having a look around the Hokage's office. "Things definitely have changed since I was gone" He thought to himself. For one thing it was tidier.

After what seemed like an eternity, Tsunade suddenly turned to Naruto "Naruto, you may go first, me and Jiraiya have some things to discuss."

Relieved to get out of that, Naruto strolled down the road that led to his apartment. As he turned the corner, he saw a flash of pink and was immediately caught in a tight hug "Naruto! Your back!".   
"S-Sakura Chan, Nice to see you to but your choking me". As she loosened her grip on him. He got a look at Sakura. Even though it had been 3 years her hair was still short. But unlike her hair, her clothes had changed drastically. A red t-shirt poked from under a Chuunin vest and skinny black pants. _A Chuunin vest, _it struck him like a pile of bricks. _He still was a Genin!_. Behind Sakura-Chan stood Shikimaru, Chouji, Lee, Neji, Kiba, Hinata and _Sasuke! _Sasuke was back! "H-h-how... how come Sasuke's back" He said this fighting back tears. " Ohh we went to save him.. Its a long story, we'll tell you tomorrow, He came back not too long before you." Sakura said this with a slight smirk on her face.

Everyone came to greet Naruto, He noticed he was taller than all of them, all except Sasuke. Sasuke was the first to come up. Sasuke hadn't changed a bit, he was still wearing same old blue shirt, with the beige shorts, but a Chuunin vest covered his torso. "Nice to see you... _My best friend_..." and they pulled each other into a hug, both with tears in their eyes. Shikimaru came up next , Scratching his head, with his trademark pout on his face. Shikimaru looked the same... except taller." How troublesome... anyway welcome back Naruto... I would rather be sleeping.." Naruto knew Shikimaru too well to be mad at him. The 2 men shook hands solemnly, then burst out laughing. Chouji went next, like Shikimaru he hadn't changed, but was also wearing a Chuunin vest. "Nawuuuutou, nise tou see you back." Naruto got a shower of half eaten chips on his face. "Woah... Chouji the weatherman didn't say it was gonna rain today." Naruto would have hugged Chouji, but feared having another shower of chips, so instead they shook hands. Neji and lee suddenly jumped at him from behind, pulling him into a rib-cracking hug. "N-nice to see you guys to-o-o" Lee and Neji let go and greeted him with smiles bigger than a peeled banana plastered on both their faces. "Ah Naruto-Kun, Nice to see your vigor of youth is now more energetic than ever." Naruto turned to grin at him " Lee, i think your beginning to look like your Sensei now." Neji came to him "Naruto, about what you said during the Chuunin exams, you were wrong. You can't change destiny, the destiny that I will kick your ass next time!" Neji was wearing a fishnet shirt under his Chuunin vest. Naruto grinned "We'll see my friend, we'll see." Naruto heard a sharp whistle and the next thing he knew, he was on the ground, being licked to death by a extremely large version Akamaru. "Hey...haha get this... dog offa me... haha..." Naruto heard Kiba whistle again, Akamaru removed himself from above Naruto. Naruto proceeded to wipe off the slobber from his face. As his vision cleared, he saw that Kiba was wearing a tank top, with sleeves that barely poked out from under the Vest "Nice too see you too Kiba.." A loud bark emanated from Akamaru "And you too Akamaru.." Naruto noticed Hinata -Chan trying to hide Behind Kiba and Akamaru. He noticed her long hair now, she was in a pink t-shirt and 3 quarter pants, in his heart he felt a sudden surge of emotion. He pondered over it for a few seconds and decided to think about it later. "H-e-y Hinata-Chan! Long time no see! Nice hairstyle!" He called to her as he ran over. "N-naruto K-kun.. n-nice to see y-you." Hinata started twiddling her fingers and looked down at her feet. Even though she couldn't look at her own face, she was certain it was a deep shade of crimson. Naruto put a hand on her forehead "What happen Hinata-Chan? Got a cold again?" She let out an barely audible "N-no its a-alright N-naruto-Kun, I-I'm fine." Naruto beamed at her "oh good. Thats good to hear."

He looked around at everyone and noticed everyone of them had the Chuunin vest. He realized everyone here was a Chuunin or higher. Sasuke noticed his confusion and stepped forward. "Well Naruto it seems like your the only Genin left out of all of us. Me, Neji, Lee and Shikimaru are all Jounin now. All the rest are all Chuunin now. You better hurry up Naruto, or one of us might become Hokage" He said this with a slight grin on his face, as though he was mocking Naruto.

Naruto wasn't affected " Well I want to see the fruits of your training against my training, How about a friendly spar now?" No one objected, in fact they wanted to watch it more than anything in the world.

10 minutes later in the training grounds, in the makeshift arena, the battle begun between Sasuke and Naruto. But prior to the battle, both agreed not to use their strongest move, Naruto's being Rasengan and Sasuke's being Chidori. As the 2 best friends faced each other there was a sudden silence within the onlookers. "Kai!" Shikimaru started the match. Both Naruto and Sasuke vanished in a cloud of dust, all that could be heard was the clashing of metal upon metal and sparks just appearing out of midair. Suddenly a puff of smoke was seen, _a Kage-bunshin!._ The real Naruto leaped down from one of the trees"Haha Sasuke! Gotcha!" Sasuke however was not affected by this taunting, and remained calm. In a flash he was behind naruto with a Kunai to Naruto's neck. "Game over Naruto.." Naruto just smiled and disappeared in a burst of speed. Sasuke's eyes widened with shock, this turn in events was unplanned for. This forced him to activate his Sharingan. Naruto shimmered into view in front of him "Hehe your not the only one with a Doujutsu Bloodline Limit, I have 1 too" Sasuke instinctively threw a punch at him. The Kage-Bunshin in front of him disappeared in a puff of smoke. The true naruto materialized about 5 meters away, closed his eyes, but when he opened them, they were no longer the sky blue eyes he once had, his eyes were the color of blood and his pupils were no longer. "Behold the Bloodline Limit of the Uzumaki Clan, The Kyuugan."

At that precise moment Kakashi came strolling from the woods. "Yo, Naruto, I see you have awakened your Bloodline Limit as well. I came to inform you of the Tsunade-Sama's decision. The teams in which you do missions will be changed completely from now on."

* * *

Hehe 1st chapter out Please R&R


	2. New Teams!

**Chapter 2: New Teams!**

"Yes you heard me, New teams. The teams are as follows:

Team 7: Sasuke, Ino and Kiba

Team 8: Naruto, Hinata, Shikimaru

Team 9: Neji, Tenten, Chouji

Team 10: Sakura, Lee, Shino

The Jounins in your teams will be your leaders. If any of you have problems, well don't. Got to go hand in my report now!" Kakashi Sensei vanished in a cloud of smoke. All of them were a bit taken back by this news. Hinata couldn't believe it, Shes in the same group as Naruto! This is like a dream come true! She would be doing missions with the man of her dreams! Her heart went all fluttery at the thought of this. Naruto, upon hearing he was in Hinata's group got another of his emotion surges. Sasuke wasn't so thrilled " I'm stuck with a group of useless ninjas, why me...?" Apart from that everyone was quite happy with their new teams.

That night as naruto lay in bed, he thought about all the things that were revealed to him today. When he got to the bit about Hinata-Chan, he got another surge of emotion. He looked at stars and wondered why this was. After careful contemplation, he was still clueless. _Maybe the answer will be clear with time..._

the turned over and he fell asleep, dreaming about him being Hokage.

Hinata looked up at the stars, today was indeed one of the best days her life. First the man of her dreams comes back from training with an extremely gorgeous body, not only that but hes really really strong! Strong enough to beat Sasuke! On top of all that, she would be doing missions with her own Naruto-Kun, she allowed herself to be lulled into a pleasant dream, dreaming of her days to come with Naruto. Little did she know, this was only the tip of the iceberg, more surprises were to come her way.

Early next morning Hinata was woken up by voices outside. Drowsily she looked at the clock, already 10 o'clock. She normally got up at about 7, she smiled and remembered the dream she had last night, it was the cause of the sleeping in late. Her mother's voice rang from the direction of the main gate "Hinata! You have visitors!" Hinata's heartbeat sped up, She hoped it was Naruto Kun. As she rounded the corner, her heart dropped, it was only Shikimaru. She went up to him, just as Naruto dropped down behind her, her heartbeat grew faster, a rhythmic thumping. She slowly turned to see Naruto's chest, looking up, she saw his lovely blue eyes looking in hers. Shikimaru decided that the mission at hand was more important than love affairs, so he coughed. A loud cough it was too. Hinata by now was blushing violently. Now we have been given a A rank mission, to go to the Earth Country and assassinate a developer of forbidden Jutsu. This will be no easy task, he is a government lapdog, a wealthy lord and most probably use very dangerous and most likely deadly forbidden Jutsu against us. Now since this is a A rank mission, we will be joined by other ninjas, Sasuke, Lee, Sakura,TenTen and Neji. Meet at the Gates in 2 hours.

After Shikimaru left, Hinata started twiddling her fingers again, looking at her feet "N-naruto Kun, I-I'm scared I don't want to go..." "Don't worry Hinata-Chan, everything will be alright, I will never leave your side, I promise nothing will happen to you." Hinata was in shock, the man she loved more than anything in the world promised to never leave her, to always protect her. Naruto smiled his cheesy smile "Come on I'm gonna get packing, I'll come back and help you pack!" With a wave he was gone.


	3. The Mission at Hand

**Chapter 3: The Mission at Hand.**

Naruto packed quite quickly, a change of clothes, A lot of Ramen and various scrolls. He then hurried over to Hinata's to help her with her packing. He was going to enjoy this mission very much, His very 1st A rank Mission! Finally after many fights with the 3rd and the 5th Finally!

Neji opened the door, "Ah Naruto Kun, come in, Hinata has been expecting you." Naruto walked with Neji through the corridors of the Hyuuga House, admiring the gardens. "We will be arriving at Lady Hinata's room shortly, on the other hand are you nervous about the mission? You know Hinata has been training non-stop for the last 3 years, You'll be surprised at what she can do now. It seems like we have arrived" Neji proceeded to a ornate wooden door and knocked on it "Lady Hinata? Naruto is here to see you" The door slid open a bit, Hinata poked her head out "R-really Neji Kun, you don't have to call me that.. O-oh! N-naruto-Kun, ummm h-hi " Naruto grinned "Hey Hinata! I've come to help you pack!" Neji elbowed Naruto playfully, and winked "I better be going now, I have to pack too" Naruto headed into her room"Come on Hinata, lets get you packed."

The next hour went by very fast indeed, soon Naruto found him with the rest of the group at the gates, awaiting departure. Shikimaru spoke up "Alright team its time we set off to the Earth country, Just remember that our country and The Earth country are under a very strained peace treaty, so be alert at all times. It will take us at least a week to get there so everyone should be prepared. Lets go!" And with that the comrades set off for the mission that would change their lives forever.

As the team walked eastwards towards the Earth Country, Naruto found himself walking next to Hinata. He raised one eyebrow and questioned why this was, but next to Hinata it felt so right and she didn't mind either.

Slowly night crept up on them and they were forced to setup camp. Naruto noticed Hinata had some trouble setting up her tent and that night was creeping in fast, so he went over "Hey Hinata-Chan, looks like your having some problems, you want to stay in my tent tonight? Hehe" Hinata-Chan was almost bowled over in shock "_Naruto Kuns asking me to sleep in the same tent as him...!"_ This thought raced through her head, her head was reeling from the shock. She, out of habit started to stare at her shoes and began twiddling her fingers. "U-uh O-ok N-naruto K-kun, B-but won't it be weird?" Naruto's hand impulsively flew to the back of his head "Hehe Its alright Hinata-Chan, I'll sleep outside tonight." Hinata felt relieved, but also bad for making Naruto do this "N-naruto-Kun, won't you be cold?" Naruto turned around and gave her his usual grin "Nah its Ok, as long as your fine." Hinata saw him walk to the fire and lie down on the ground. Hands behind his head, as though nothing in the world bothered him. "No, really I mean it Hinata, I'm fine, you should get some sleep, big day tomorrow!" As Hinata went into Naruto's tent, she prayed nothing would happen that night.

Naruto lay on the ground, looking at the stars above, it was a summer's night. A cool breeze blew past him. He kept on wondering what made him do this, he just impulsively offered his tent to Hinata. _As long as shes fine..._ He closed his eyes and fell into a peaceful slumber.

_Nooooo wait! Wait don't kill him! The ruthless Earth Nin stood over Naruto's unconscious body, a Kunai in his hand. The Earth Nin grinned and brought the knife down on Naruto's body. Hinata closed her eyes, unable to watch. The Earth Nin slowly advanced onto her, the Kunai in his hand dripping with blood, Naruto's blood._

Hinata suddenly woke up, covered in sweat, it was midnight, all was quiet. Her heart was beating a tattoo on her chest. She crept outside, and saw her Naruto-Kun was safe. A sigh of relief left her lips, she walked over to beside the dying fire. Naruto Kun looked so peaceful when hes asleep. It was taking all the self control she had to stop her from hugging him. At the sight of Naruto-Kun's peaceful sleeping face, she was comforted. She walked back to her tent, Naruto's tent, and allowed her self to go into a easy sleep.

Naruto woke up to see the sunlight shooting through the gaps in the leaves, the dying embers of the fire glowed next to him. _What a lovely morning. _He just lay there for a while listening to the birds chirping, the rustling of the leaves as the morning breeze blew through the treetops. In the distance, he heard a faint _one-two-one-two _He guessed it was Lee. He got up slowly, he shook the sleep from his system grabbed a towel and walked in the direction of Lee. He found Neji there as well, sitting in the Lotus position, meditating, Lee however has doing push-ups with one hand. He headed towards to direction of the river, he was going for a morning shower.

He stood by the riverside and got into his boxers, took a few steps back and just let fly. _Blosh! _He catapulted into the river and playfully chased the fish, darting around like a bullet under water, dived in and out of the water using chakra to propel himself through the clear water. He caught a few fish for breakfast and proceeded on the way back to camp, as he went past the clearing where he saw Lee and Neji train, _they were gone, probably finished._ As he arrived at camp, he saw everyone gathered around the fire "Hey just in time Naruto, breakfast is served, well done comrade!" Lee commented on his catch.

Soon the fish were roasting happily on the crackling fire, with everyone gathered around the fire waiting eagerly for their breakfast. Lee rubbing his hands together with glee. Sasuke being his usual cold self, Sakura still trying to get Sasuke to notice her, Hinata was just turning her fish over,Tenten was inspecting her weapons and Shikimaru was falling asleep again, but Neji, Neji's eyes looked really weird today, they were not his normal piercing stare, but where softer and caring eyes. Naruto was puzzled, but Sakura's loud voice broke his train of thought "Naruto! Baka! Your breakfast is burning!" Naruto whipped his eyes to his fish, it was a nice charcoal black. "Aww man... oh well, never mind.." He left the circle and began to pack his tent. He was done in a flash, his Kage-Bunshin vanished in a _bamf!_ In a wisp of smoke. " While your at it Naruto, You might as well do our ones too. Sasuke ordered him, without even turning around. "Hehe No problem._ Tajuu Kage-Bunshin No Jutsu! _His Kage-Bunshins started to pack away everyone else's tent. Within minutes the job was completed, one by one, the Narutos disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving only the real Naruto standing in the clearing. "Hehe all done".

Without further ado, the team set out for the Earth Country. Little did they know they were being monitored.


	4. The Fight

**Chapter 4: The Fight. **

Day by day past, none much different from the previous. Day after day they marched towards the Earth Country. One day, as they were nearing the border, Shikimaru suddenly turned around " Crap! Neji..." Neji activated his Byakuugan "Crap it is, Earth Nins, 2 teams of 3 coming from the back, trying to surprise us."

Shikimaru thought for a moment, "Ok, Naruto, everyone, gather around, this is what we'll do..."

As the Earth Nins approached, they noticed the group had settled in clearing for a rest _ Well, the easier it is for us to kill them then. On the count of 3.. 1...2...3 NOW! _ All of a sudden 6 earth Nins materialized from nowhere and jumped towards the group. Sasuke sensed this attack and hurled a Kunai at them without even turning around, the Kunai found its mark. The Earth Nin crumbled into clay _Shit.. a Doton Bunshin. _ In reply to Sasuke's attack, another Nin came out from the bushes, a Kunai pointed directly at Sasuke. Sasuke evaded this easily, and promptly broke the Ninja's Arm, he fell to the ground writhing in pain. Naruto was backed into a tree, 2 earth Nins advancing slowly. Naruto desperately threw a weird Kunai at them, it missed entirely, landing on the ground not 2 meters away _Perfect. The two Earth Nins noticed his eyes slowly grew red... What the..?_Naruto grinned then vanished, the enemy ninja was confused, a second later they were both on the ground, knocked out. "Thats Body Flicker Jutsu for you, a little memoir of my bro." They wouldn't be waking up for a while now. Lee was engaged in combat with an extremely small ninja, who almost rivaled him in speed. Lee dodged one of his kicks, back-flipped a distance back, and took of his 50 kg weights. The little ninja however was not hampered, he charged in for the attack. _Konoha Sennpou! _Lee moved with lightning fast speed. The little ninja was kicked into a couple of trees, none of which provided any cushioning, he fell to the ground, concussed. Neji and Hinata where each fighting one, these Nin appeared to be Jounins at least, when the others tried to rush in and help, one of the enemy Nins created a stone barrier around them, preventing them from interfering. Naruto started walking "Hehe no problem, I'll just blast it with Rasengan." Sasuke, however stopped him, "Naruto, let them fight, its for their own good, especially Hinata's."

Hinata dodged another attack, pounding the enemy Nin's rock hard skin with her Jyuuken, seemed to have no effect. _I might have to use "that" Jutsu, _Hinata had been developing a Jutsu that allowed her chakra find weak points in her opponent, this was her first time using it in a real battle though. She thought about Naruto-Kun waiting outside for her, a wellspring of courage bubbled forth from her heart. She started to gather chakra in her hand, creating strings similar to puppet Jutsu, these strings started probing the opponents armour, trying to find a weak spot, all while dodging her opponents attacks! She allowed her Jutsu to work its magic as she continued to dodge his blows, lucky none of them actually hit her, thanks to her activated Bloodline Limit. There! At the back, where the chakra flow was weak, a crack in the armour! Hinata sped up her dodging, and ducked below the enemy Nin's flailing arms, circled around his back, and struck right in the crack with her Jyuuken. **Vacuum Strike! **The air infront of the Earth Nin distorted, then out of nowhere a huge gash in the ground appeared. She landed lightly, now there was something her father would be proud of.

Neji on the other hand was having fun. He was toying around with his opponent. When he saw that Hinata had felled her opponent, he decided to end this quickly. He went a few meters back, and pulled the Hyuuga clan stance, _Well if Hinata-Sama can show her new attack, then so can I. _ "**Divine Heavenly spin of the War God!**". Neji started spinning very fast and letting chakra out of his palms, creating a impenetrable barrier, also shooting projectiles of chakra at the Earth Nin. We he had finished, his opposition resembled a human pin-cushion. All of his Chakra "needles" had hit a tenketsu, something even Hiashi-Sama can't even do.

"Hey, everybody, the Jutsus disappeared!" As the smoke cleared, the walking figures of Neji and Hinata could be seen. A sigh of relief left everyone in the group.

A while later, after they had burned the bodies, they gathered around their camp, discussing the possible reasons for this sudden attack. There is only one explanation, the enemy knows we are coming and doesn't want to. Simple.


	5. Sakura and Naruto's Tale

**Chapter 5: Sakura and Naruto's Tale**

That night, when they were all huddled around the campfire, Naruto broke the silence. "Hey Sakura-Chan, you still need to tell me about how you guys rescued Sasuke." Sakura sighed "Ok, Naruto, I guess its time to tell you, you deserve to know"

While you where gone, Tsunade-Sama received some new about a couple of mysterious murders. So she sent Kakashi-Sensei to investigate. When he arrived, his dogs discovered Orochimaru's scent there. So Tsunade-Sama sent us on a Rank A Mission to investigate. So Me, Ino, Kiba, Lee, Hinata, Shino went there led by Neji and Shikimaru. Tsunade-Sama also asked the Sand Country for help, so Temari, Kankuro and Gaara, yes the Kaze-Kage came! We scoured the area Kakashi-Sensei told us to, and after about a day of searching, we found the secret entrance to his hideout. So we proceeded on a reconnaissance mission, but that was interrupted when we stumbled upon the Sand Nins fighting Kabuto. Luckily enough they seemed to be winning. In the end Gaara had him trapped in his desert coffin with both Kabuto's arms broken, and Kankuro's poison slowly ate away at his innards. Gaara just left him there to die a slow death. Just to prevent him from trying to heal himself, Shino sent his bugs to eat his chakra.

We slowly advanced into the main hall, Orochimaru sat there, all high and mighty. He was easily taller than any of them. With a shout, all of us attacked simultaneously. He was just dodging all our moves, not even attacking, but after a while he started actually trying to hit us, believe me you, he hits very hard. So we were there fighting him, all of us together, even Kakashi Sensei. And we could tell he was getting tired, so Kakashi Sensei decided it was time to finish it off, so we charged in with all our best attacks. Thats when Orochimaru got serious, he let loose a a weird Jutsu, **Kin-Jutsu Death Wave No Jutsu!**, Which just knocked most of us out. I was barely conscious, when i saw Sasuke-Kun just walk up to Orochimaru, who was hunched on his knees, puffing. Sasuke just went up to him and whacked him on the neck, and after that I just blacked out.

I woke up to find myself in Konoha hospital, apparently Sasuke-Kun carried us back on his Kage-Bunshins. He was sick of Orochimaru, after so long and he still didn't get anymore powerful, so he decided to come back. I can tell you when Tsunade-Sensei heard, she was pretty pissed. Anyway thats the story, maybe you can share your training experience with us.

Naruto was grinning, and even though Sasuke was trying to keep a straight face, anyone could tell he was a tad bit embarrassed. "Ok Sakura-Chan, Hehe I'll tell you about my training with Ero-Sennin."  
It was like this, after we left Konoha we went to this secret training place and every week he taught me a new Jutsu. And oh yeah by the way, Lee you might be interested, now i can open 7 of my 8 Celestial gates!" Lee was shocked, open mouthed and wide eyed, but soon calmed down, "Well comrade, I have found a 9th gate, having opened 7 gates is very good." "Continuing on, Ero Sennin forced me to train Taijustu non-stop for like a year, so thats why I have improved so far. Also I took a leaf out of your book Lee." Naruto pulled up his pants to reveal 50kg weights on both legs. Everyone was shocked! I mean this is Naruto, the useless ninja from Team 7, now he was powerful, strong and had a gorgeous body." One day Ero Sennin told me about my Clan, about my Brother and about my Bloodline limit. The Uzumaki's where once the strongest clan in Konoha, but due to low birth rates, the Clan was in a state of decline. My brother was the only child of his generation, I finally found out his real name, Masayoshi Uzumaki. You may not know him in that way, but you may recognize him from this, he was the 4th Hokage, Yondaime. His signature move was the Body Flicker, what I did to those Earth Nins back there. Anyway that move was a signature move of the Uzumaki clan, only achievable through our Bloodline Limit, The Kyuugan. I haven't fully mastered it but I can use 2 out of the 9 abilities it has."

Everyone was stunned by this news, Naruto, the Loudmouth Ninja, the useless blond nitwit, was now one of the strongest Ninjas out of them, maybe even the strongest. He was strong enough now, but they had no idea what kind of Jutsu Jiraiya taught him. But what they all wanted to know about was the Bloodline Limit of the Uzumakis. But Naruto had refused to talk any further about it, saying he would reveal all in a really serious fight.

Sasuke was the first to speak up "Ok everyone, its getting late now, I think we had better get to sleep, tomorrow we enter the earth country, so everyone has to be in top condition." There was a murmur of agreement as people slowly got up from around the campfire and proceeded to their own tents.

Hinata couldn't sleep, tomorrow they would enter the Earth Country, Konoha's #1 enemy, she was scared. She tried counting ninja sheep, but it didn't work. Nothing did, So she got up decided to go for a stroll. Since it was a warm night, she pulled a robe over her PJs and walked towards the river. As she approached the river, she could hear splashing. She rounded he corner, Naruto sat on the tallest boulder, staring at the stars. It was as though he was glowing, the soft light of the moon illuminated his body. He was wearing blue boxers with a white singlet, but it didn't look very white, it was the palest of blues, with the reflections of the water painted across his muscular chest. Ever dancing across his chest, the feeling was mesmerizing.

Naruto sat the rock, thinking of these past few days, 1st a group of Earth Nins attack them, then the story of how Sasuke came back from Orochimaru. Man these few days were definitely one of the more exciting days he has had. A refreshing breeze blew through hair. Naruto jerked around, he heard a soft rustle in the bushes, he could see a shadowy figure by the tree. "Who is it?" A very frightened Hinata-Chan came out from behind the trees, "S-sorry Naruto-Kun, b-but I couldn't sleep." Naruto let out a sigh of relief "Oh its only you Hinata-Chan. Hehe Same here, i couldn't sleep either." Naruto moved over on his rock, patting a space next to him "Come on Hinata-Chan, Wanna join me?" Hinata looked at her feet again "Ummm... I-its alright, I'm f-fine here." Naruto grinned "Come on, they say two's a company, plus we can talk." How could Hinata say no to Naruto-Kun, the first time was already hard enough. She jumped onto the rock and sat down next to him, and looking at her feet. For a minute all that was heard was the sound of the rushing waters. Naruto spoke first "You know Hinata-Chan, I'm quite excited about this mission, after years of fighting with the 3rd and..." He broke off, hearing only the gentle sobbing of Hinata. _She was crying.. Did I make her cry?.. _Naruto bent over "Whats wrong Hinata-Chan?" Hinata fought back the tears. She was scared, too scared... "N-n-naruto-Kun... I-I'm scared of tomorrow... I'm Afraid..." Naruto puller her into a hug, having a sudden urge to protect her from everything that was troubling her "Don't worry Hinata, I will always be there for you, to protect you. I promise..." Hinata felt weird, he had called her Hinata, Not Hinata-Chan. Nevertheless Naruto-Kun had promised to her never to leave her, just like the day when they left. They just sat there talking for ages with the gentle flowing of the river in the background, Hinata felt like todays was heaven. When he noticed Hinata-Chan had fallen asleep on his arm. _ Man... shes so beautiful.._ Her skin glowed a pale blue, tears still clung to her eyelashes, a peaceful expression on her face. Naruto gently carried her back to her tent, tucked her in and went back to his own sleep and slept.


	6. The Arrival and The Confession

**Chapter 6: The Arrival and The Confession**

Early the next morning, Shikimaru addressed the group "Alright everyone, this is what we'll do, everyone split into pairs, we will approach the Hidden Earth Village with caution" He held up a map, yellowed and torn with age "This is the map that Sandaime drew of the Earth Country during the Great War." Shikimaru did some quick hand seals **'Paper Clone No Jutsu' **The paper split into 4 pieces. "Now everyone listen up. The pairs are as follows, Naruto and Hinata, Sakura and Sasuke, Me and Lee finally Neji and Tenten." Shikimaru smiled, everyone was satisfied with their pairing, just like he planned, If everyone has happy, then they would fight better . Once everyone was ready, Shikimaru gave the signal to go. In less than a second, all 7 ninjas disappeared.

Sakura was thrilled! Shikimaru wasn't such a dumb ass after all, putting her with Sasuke was the smartest thing he could have ever done. When she was with Sasuke-Kun she felt safe, although he hardly talked to her, She still hoped, hoped one day... one day they would be together, then all of her fantasies would come true... She daydreamed for a while. Suddenly Sasuke turned around and said "Sakura, are you tired, be have been going for almost half a day now, maybe we should rest." Sakura was a bit taken back, since when did Sasuke become so caring? "No.. Its alright Sasuke-Kun,I'm fine." Sasuke smiled to himself, Sakura had definitely grown these past years. She wasn't the Sakura that used to try to impress him, or the weak Sakura. She was stronger, smarter and _prettier. Prettier now... _ Somehow he felt awfully light hearted when with Sakura. But this was no time for romance, this was a serious mission. He had to focus, on completing it, for the sake of everyone.

Naruto raced forward, with Hinata beside him. He had promised to protect Hinata from anything, and by anything he meant anything, even Orochimaru. And he intended on keeping that promise. They jumped from tree to tree, urging on towards their goal. _The Earth Country... _Hinata was unworried, the very day she had nightmares about, now seemed closer than ever, but this time Naruto-Kun would be there protecting her. Maybe it was because he liked her.. _Nah.. its not possible.._ But she liked to fantasize about if she gad gotten together with Naruto, how great that would've been.

Night dawned, soon they would have to set up camp. Naruto was about to get his tent out of his pack, but it wasn't there, he fumbled for a while. Nope, it wasn't there, he must've left it at their last camping ground. _Dammit.. how was I so careless...? _He would be sleeping outside tonight, hopefully it wouldn't rain. As soon as he started to walk towards where Hinata-Chan was setting up her tent, he heard thunder and lighting, not soon after, rain started to drizzle down _Crap.. I guess I'll have to ask Hinata-Chan..._ He walked over "Errrr Hinata-Chan , umm ...I left my tent at our last camp ground, so yeah... do you mind if i stay in your tent tonight...?" He hoped she would say yes, he never thought asking Hinata-Chan something would be that hard.

Hinata was speechless, again out of habit, she started to twiddle her fingers "O-of course, N-naruto-Kun" Tonight was the night, She would be alone with Naruto-Kun, tonight she would tell him about her feelings.

_Tonight..._ Naruto felt weird, he was going to sleep in the same tent as Hinata-Chan, weird but he couldn't but feel happy. Naruto had that "feeling" again, what was it? He was going to have a talk with Oba-Chan as soon as he got home.

Naruto and Hinata huddled in the tent as the rain poured down, they had lost track of the time. They needed sleep, tomorrow they would infiltrate the Hidden Earth Village. But they couldn't, neither Hinata or Naruto could sleep. Hinata knew why, but Naruto didn't. He rolled around trying to sleep, but the just couldn't bring himself to. Hinata knew this was her chance, she had to tell him now! She summoned all her courage and told him.

"N-naruto-K-kun... umm theres this thing i w-wanted to tell you f-for ages... umm so here goes... I Love you Naruto-kun... I-I Love you v-very much..." She hoped he said yes.. _please say yes... please..._ Naruto was silent, Hinata grew worried and started panicking, maybe he didn't like her in that way, she turned around and found he was asleep. Naruto was in fact wide awake, _Hinata said she loved me... _ Thoughts raced through his head, did he like Hinata? He did but as a friend, he never thought in this way. This night was going to be very long. Naruto and Hinata just lay there not sleeping. Naruto trying to sort his feelings out, Hinata trying to sleep, and convincing herself that Naruto didn't hear that.

Morning eventually came, Hinata got up early and sat by the embers of the campfire, contemplating about what happened last night. She thought it was time to start making breakfast. She started to gather some twigs and rekindled the fire, and proceeded to boil some water. She thought she would make Naruto-Kun some Ramen, he would enjoy that. Naruto woke up, he lay there thinking about the events that happened last night, it slowly dawned on him, the sudden emotion surges, he loved her. He loved her more than anything in the world.

Naruto got up, not caring to dress, he went outside. Hinata sat at the campfire making breakfast. He didn't care what would happen, all the cared about in the world sat in front of him making breakfast. He walked over and hugged her. He heard her gasp in shock "N-Naruto-K-Kun... w-w-what are you doing?" Naruto bent close and whispered in her ear "Hinata I heard what you said last night" He heard a sharp intake of breath "N-n-naruto-K-kun... About" Naruto chose this point to cut her off "Hinata, let me finish, I must tell you that I'm already in love..." Hinata's heart fell like a ball of lead. Naruto continued on "... With you" Hinata couldn't believe her ears, she concluded that this was a dream and there was no way Naruto-Kun was in love with her "I-i must be dreaming, this isn't real." Naruto smiled he leaned in and kissed her. Her eyes widened in shock as he felt his lips on hers. After they broke apart Naruto smiled at the blushing girl in front of him " Now tell me that wasn't real"


End file.
